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No. 82,482 PATENTED SEPT. 29, 1868. 1 H. s. BLOOD. y j

SEAT FOR RAILWAY CARS.

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V Letters Patent Np. 82,482, dated, September 29,1868.

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Be it known that I, HANNIBAL S. BLOOD, of Jefi'erson, in, the parish of Jefferson, and fitate of l haveinven ted a certain new andu'seful Improvement in Seats for "Railroad-Oars; and I do hereby d ec following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the same, reference beinghad to the an neked drawing, v

The object of my invention is to provide a mechanicalarrangement or means, by which several difi'erentor distinct adjustments of the backs of ordinarily-constructed railroad-car seatsmayhe easily and rapidly made on either side of the seats, by the occ upants thereof, and thus to secure to the said occupants a supportfor their heads and shoulders, or apartially-reclining, or a wholly-recumbcnt position, as theireo m fo rt may require, by i an elevation of the backs of the seats, or by giving an inclination thereto, or'by turning downthe same intothe planeof the seats; .and this arrangement consists, (I speak of course, of the arrangement for each-seat,) of two slotted bars, to the upper ex'tremitiesof which the back of the seat is pivoted, at each of its ends, by meansof the ordinary bifurcated brackets that are now generallyemployed to pivot the backs to the arms of the scat, which-bars are provided with a curved cross-arm, in which thre are two curved slots, of unequal length; a pin "projecting from each arm 01' the seat, whi h takes into the slots of the oars and cross-arms respectively, and subserves the function of holdingthe back in any ofthe positions in which it may be put; and two socket-pieces, 'with flaring ends, to receive the lower extremities of the slotted bars, and hold them in position, which are permanently secured to the seats, under each of the arms thereof.

Thus, consisting of these few and simple mechanical parts, it will be at once seen that my invention-can he applied, without the slightest difficulty, and at very small cost, to every existing car-seat, and that, in making the application, the whole operation consists simply in putting it on, no other change, in any particular whatisoever, being necessary.

But my invention will be more clearly and quickly understood by referring to the drawing, on which the lsame letters denote the sa'meparts at all the figures. v At Figure 1, the drawing represents, in perspective, a car.seat, with my invention attached, the back, howiever, occupying theusual position found in such seats whenever provided with .my adjusting-arrangement or linvention, From this position the back A may be turned into a precisely-similar one, on the other side of the !seat, precisely as the backs of seats without my arrangement may be thus turned, the only difl'erence being that {the arris of the'partial revolution, that is 1;equisite to make the change, is fixed,in the latter case, 'tothe arms of the seat, and, in the former, to the upper ends of the slotted bars B. These burs, it will be perceived, on an inspection of any of the figures on the drawing, are secured to the arms of the seat by the pins'a, in such manner that no inconvenience whatever is sustained by the occupants of the seat, in consequence of the presence of one or the other, for the pins are provided with smooth, round heads, and the bars occupying the same, or nearly the same vertical plane-with the arms of'the seats, do not, in any appreciable degree,'interfere with or afl'ect the dimensions of the seat. v

At a point about one-third the whole length of the barsB, from the upper ends thereof, the arm C crosses the same, and in this arm the curved slots 1; and q are made, the slot bbeing considerably longer than slot 0, and curveddownn'ardly, whereas slot 0 curves upwardly, and therefore in a reverse direction to slot 6. Boththe slots 15 and c communicate with the slot (2 in the bar B, so that the pins a will readily pass into either, whenever a change in the position of the back, A, requires they shall do so.

The socket-pieces D expand from the central point 1, in a backward and forward direction,in order that no obstruction shall be interposed by them to the free vibration of the bars B as they accommodate themselves to the changing positions of the back, A. Two being securely fastened to the seat Efand of uniform width in the direction of the length of the seat, they yet prevent any lateral vibration of the said bars, and effectually secure their lower extremities in the right position. I

At Figure 2, an adjustment by means ofmy arrangement is exhibited, which, by an elevation of the back,

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l, b'rings itinto position to support the head and shoulders of the occupants of the seat, without materially changing the angle or inclinationof the back with respect to the plane of the seat E, as is clearly shown by the drawing. p I

This adjustment is efl'ected by simply raising thebars B until the pins a will enter the curve c-of the arm C on the side next the front of the seat, where the gravity of the back, A, will securely keep them, even if there be no pressure against the said back-by the occupants of the seat.

At Figure 3, the back, A, is shown in a position that enablesthe occupants of the seat to lean back or recline at an angle of forty-five degrees, or thcreabouts, if their pleasure or comfort makes this desirable. The adjust-Q ment of the back into this position is brought about by passing the pins 0 into the front section of the slot 6, as shown, and this,'like the adjustment that elevates the back, as shown at fig. 2, may be efi'ected by the pass'engers themselves, without other assistance. V

By withdrawing the bars B entirely cutoff the socket-pieces D, and raising them 'up until the pins a are in the lower extremities of the slots 01, the back, A, will be brought into the same horizontal plane withthe seat'E, as shown at Figure 4, and this adjustment co'nverts the seat, so to speak, into a bed, on which the occupants may lie down and sleep as comfortably as in an'ordinary sleeping-car.

Thus, it will be perceived that, in addition to the usual, or, as it may be called, the normal position of the backs of the ear-seats, my invention provides three distinct and widely-difi'erent adjustments or arrangements of said backs, and that hence it secures the comfort of railroad-passengers under all possible conditions and circumstances, and at a cost or outlay of money that is almost nominal.

Having thus described my invention, what lkclaim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

The slotted bar 13, when provided with the double-slotted cross-arm Q, in combination with the socket-pieces D and the pins a, when these several parts are constructed, arranged, and operate substantially as herein described for the purpose set forth.

. HANNIBAL S. BLOOD.

f Witnesses:

Jorm S. Csason, H. N. 

